In the department of

In the department of races I've been watching, let me mention a new poll out from Connecticut's 2nd District, where incumbent Republican Rob Simmons is facing Jim Sullivan.

The 2nd District is basically the eastern half of the state (see here), an area that I can fairly call myself an expert on, as long as we stick to how things were in the 1600s. About the area's more recent history, I know pretty little.

That ignorance aside, however, a new poll out, commissioned by the Sullivan campaign and the DCCC, has Simmons up by two points over Sullivan, 41% to 39% among likely voters. The poll was taken on August 11th and 12th and had a sample size of 504 likely voters.

Now, that's a relatively small sample size, though not so small for a congressional district poll. And the poll was commissioned by the challenger. Still, it shows a basically dead-even race and an incumbent that is deep down in the danger zone at 41%. Add in the fact that the most recent Quinnipiac poll put President Bush's approval rating in the state at 37% and you've got a very winnable race for the Democrats.